Prison officers have accused the Government of giving them fewer rights than the prisoners they guard after learning prison cells will be exempt from the smoking ban.
Under the terms of the smoking laws prison is considered a public place, meaning officers will be unable to smoke on duty.
The communal areas of prisons such as kitchens, workshops and exercise areas will become non-smoking, although private cells will not come under the same jurisdiction.
General Secretary of the Prison Officer’s Association (POA) Brian Caton says prisoners who smoke should not be afforded the same rights as civilian smokers:
“Prisoners should not be allowed to smoke in prisons. They have broken the law and been sent to prison as a result. That was their choice and they knew the consequences of their actions. Prisons are not hotels and it is wrong that prison staff are being treated like second class citizens.”
Governors will have to move inmates around to ensure smokers and non-smokers are kept separate, and ventilation will have to be installed in cells without windows, all of which will add to overall costs. Officers will not be required to take action if they have seen a prisoner smoking in their cell, unless there is an emergency.
Martin Callanan, MEP for the North East, said the costs of accommodating prisoner's smoking habits could put a considerable strain on finances:
"Why should the taxpayer pick up the cost of moving prisoners and the expense of extraction equipment? It's just ridiculous. Prisoners give up certain rights when they go to jail and smoking should be one of them."
Colin Moses, National Chairman of the POA said excluding private cells from the ban will put prison staff at risk from second-hand smoke:
"The changes in legislation were brought about to protect the health of everyone. It is well known that the effects of passive smoking are significant. This policy will cause major problems in prisons with prisoners having more rights than the staff. It is ludicrous that the staff in overcrowded and under resourced prisons will now have to move prisoners from cell to cell or prison to prison just to accommodate their smoking habits."
But the NHS defended the Government's decision to allow prisoners to use their cells as smoking areas. A spokesman for Smokefree England said:
“Prison is effectively a prisoner’s home and therefore not a public place. Of course, prisoners will still not be allowed to smoke in the areas of the prison considered public like exercise areas and kitchens.”
However, prison officers have complained that overcrowding means prisoners cannot always be given their own personal living space.
Glyn Travis, press officer for the Prison Officer’s Association, warned this could cause big problems if smokers and non-smokers are forced to occupy the same area:
“Unfortunately we just don’t have the luxury of giving each prisoner a private cell. Most share their living space with at least one other inmate, and some live in large dormitory areas where up to eighteen prisoners occupy the same communal area. Psychiatric hospitals have been prepared for the smoking ban in advance by a series of smoking cessation programmes to ensure a safe environment free from the dangers of second – hand smoke. Prisons have received no such benefits.”
Jeff Dobson, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said that a sudden transition to a smoke-free environment could make prisons more dangerous:
“One thing that must be taken into consideration is the psychological impact of giving up smoking. Prisoners coming off cigarettes could be volatile and harder to placate, which in itself could put prison workers and other prisoners at greater risk of violence and disorder. Any attempt to stop prisoners smoking should therefore be approached with care.”
But Nigel Cross, senior practitioner for substance abuse at Weatherby Young Offender’s Institute, says that as long as prisoners are given enough time to adjust, there should be no problem with making the transition. Weatherby Young Offenders Institution is the first prison in the country to go smoke-free, and was awarded the Butler’s Trust Award for excellence in reform. The prison offers both inmates and staff access to nicotine replacement therapy, whilst government funding has allowed them to build multi-gyms and new communal areas that and promote positive interaction between the inmates a healthy lifestyle through gyms and
“The transition here has worked well, we’ve had no hiccups. The lads are a lot healthier, and because tobacco is outlawed it's cut down on bullying a lot because tobacco used to be used as currency here. In the two years since the ban was introduced there’s only been one fire and that was in the kitchen, compared to 36 fires the year before we brought the ban in. The success is down to the fact we prepared the staff and inmates well in advance, asked the inmates what they thought abouit it and got them involved. We didn’t just tell them that this ban was coming in but we gave them their say and made them feel part of it. We prepared well in advance for the transition."
Weatherby promotes positive interaction between the inmates through a healthy lifestyle. Government funding has allowed governors to install gyms and exercise areas for use by the inmates, but many other prisons will not be able to afford such luxuries.
Jeff Dobson of the Prison Reform Trust said:
"It’s all well and good saying new areas should be built to entertain prisoners but where are these funds coming from? The prison service is overstretched as it is. Cheaper, more practical methods of entertaining inmates should be discussed before money the Government doesn't have is allocated to weaning prisoners off the habit."
Links:
http://www.poauk.org.uk/
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk
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